Co-Producing Contextual Safeguarding in South Lanarkshire

Co‑producing Contextual Safeguarding in South Lanarkshire reports on a collaborative project between South Lanarkshire Council (SLC), Covey, and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), funded by CORRA as part of The Promise. Conducted between October 2023 and March 2025, the project aimed to embed the voices of care and justice experienced young people alongside practitioner expertise in the development and early implementation of a Contextual Safeguarding (CS) framework within South Lanarkshire. Contextual Safeguarding is a transformative approach to child protection that responds to extra‑familial harm, such as peer violence, criminal exploitation, and online abuse, by seeking to change the social contexts in which harm occurs, rather than focusing solely on individual children and families.

Using a co‑production methodology, the project explored how Contextual Safeguarding could be meaningfully operationalised at a local authority level. The research drew on qualitative data generated through co‑production workshops and applied tools with young people and practitioners, alongside a rapid review of academic and grey literature on Contextual Safeguarding within the UK. The report presents findings that illuminate how young people and practitioners understand safety, risk, and harm across a range of social contexts, and how these understandings intersect with existing safeguarding structures and practices.

Key findings indicate that young people conceptualise safety as multi‑dimensional, encompassing emotional, relational, social, environmental, resource‑based, control and predictability, and voice and agency dimensions. Social identities, belonging, and peer relationships were repeatedly identified as central to both safety and risk, yet were often under‑recognised within professional practice. “Empty time” and boredom emerged as significant contextual risk factors, increasing vulnerability to harmful behaviours and exploitation. While practitioners demonstrated awareness of harmful contexts particularly in relation to drug dealing and online sexual abuse, they reported limited mechanisms, authority, and pathways to intervene at the level of contexts. Youth workers were identified as highly trusted by young people but constrained by the absence of formal referral routes and safeguarding authority. Story completion analysis further revealed entrenched narratives around victimhood and gender, with few stories offering resolution, highlighting the need to challenge fixed constructions of victims and offenders.

The report also examines the strategic position of Contextual Safeguarding in South Lanarkshire, identifying implementation as largely operating at an individualised level, and outlines the barriers to progressing towards context‑level change. These include limited national guidance, workforce pressures, data‑sharing concerns, and the need for cultural and ideological shifts in safeguarding practice. Drawing on these findings, the report sets out a series of actionable recommendations for practice, policy, and strategic development.

This report should be read by practitioners, managers, commissioners, and policymakers seeking to develop more effective responses to extra‑familial harm. It offers both conceptual insight and practical guidance on co‑producing Contextual Safeguarding, foregrounding the importance of young people’s voices, multi‑agency collaboration, and systemic change in delivering the ambitions of The Promise.